Record-sheet-clamping arrangement



June 11, 1929. NICKERSON 1,716,899

RECORD SHEET CLAMPING ARRANGEMENT Filed April 23, 1926 lllllllllllilli 13 awwewtoz Patented June 11, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY B. NICKERSON, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO CONSOLIDATED ASHCROFT HANCOCK COMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK,

N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

RECORD-SHEET-CLAMPING ARRANGEMENT.

Application filed April 23, 1926. Serial No. 104,109.

My invention relates to improvements in record sheet clamping arrangements, and more particularly to arrangements adapted to hold the record sheets for recording thermometers and various other recording instruments.

In such devices it has been common to provide a spindle or post driven by clockwork and carrying a seat for the recording sheet or disk, and to provide-a nut or other device screwthreaded upon the post and adapted to clamp the record sheet to its seat whereby it will be suitably rotated by the clockwork as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. When it is desired to remove the record sheet to replace the same with a new record sheet, it has been common to remove the nut or clamping device from the post so that the record sheet may be removed therefrom, and then after a new record sheet has been put in place the nut or clamping member has been replaced on the post and the new record disk clamped in place against its seat.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement whereby the record sheet may be removed from its seat and a fresh record sheet put in place without entirely removing the clamping means from the post or seat.

A further object is to provide an arrangement having means which prevent the clamping member or means from being entirely removed from the post or seat. Heretofore much trouble has been experienced by reason of the fact that when the clamping member or means has been removed for the replacement of record sheets the same inadvertently became lost thereby making it impossible to use the apparatus until the clamping member or means hasbeen found or replaced by a new one. i

7 According to my invention the record sheets may be put in place and removed without entirely removing the clamping means, and also in the preferred form of the invention efficient means are provided for preventing the entire removal of the clamping means.

Further and more specific objects, features and advantages of the invention will more clearly appear from the detailed description' given below taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which Fig. 1 is a transverse section through an arrangement embodying my improvements in the preferred form thereof;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of one of the record sheets;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 1 for holding the record sheet;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the same showing the clamping means in 01f or unclamping position; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, 7 represents a sleeve adapted to be secured to the hour post of a clock mechanism as for example by means of a set screw 8. The sleeve 7 is provided with a circular clamping seat 9, and protruding from the clamping seat 9 is a circular hub 10. The clamping seat 9 also has projecting therefrom and from the hub 10 a screwthreaded post 11 of less diameter than the hub 10. Screwthreaded upon the post 11 and therefore with respect to the seat 9, is a cap clamping member 12 provided at its inner end with a circular periphery 13 adapted to fit over and close to the hub 10. The main portion of the cap 12 is knurled as shown in Fig. 4, in order that the cap clamping member may be easily turned and so screwed back and forth on the screwthreaded post 11. 14 represents a record disk or sheet provided with a central hole or aperture 15 the edges of which are adapted to lie adjacent to the hub 10, so that the hub serves to accurately position the record sheet on the seat 9 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The sleeve 7 and post 11 are hollowed out as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, and at its end the post 11 is provided with a hole 16 extending axially therethrough. Screwed into the end of the cap member 12 and extending axially thereof, is a screw 17 so that the screw 17 is rigidly fixed with respect to the cap member 12. The shank of the screw extends axially through the hole 16 and on its end is provided with a head 18 larger than the hole 16, so that when it is attempted to unscrew the clamping cap 12 from the post 11 the head 18 will come up against the end of the post 11 which serves as a stop, and will thus prevent the clamping cap 12 from being entirely removed from the post 11 and seat 9. By this simple arrangement liability of loss of the cap memher by entirely removing the same, is effectively eliminated.

As shown in' Figs; 1, 2 and 3, the circular hole 15 in the record sheet 14 is made to snugly fit the protruding hub 10, while the periphery 13 of the clamping member 12 which clamps the edge of the record disk 14 to the seat 9 adjacent the edges of the hole 15, is larger than the hole 15, that is, the diameter of the clamping portion 13 is larger than the diameter of the hole 15,. In order that the record disk 14 may, however, be put in place and removed without entirely removing the clamping member 12, I provide the record disk 14 with slits or cuts 19, forming flaps between adjacent slits or cuts. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, these slits or cuts 19 are V-shaped and extend laterally or radially from the hole. Thus the hole in the record sheet is so shaped that upon unscrewing the clamping cap 12 a short distance as shown in Fig. 5, but without entirely removing the same from the post 11 and clamping seat 9, the record sheet 14 may be pulled oil over the circular clamping portion 13 and clamping member 12, the slits 19 permitting the-paper record sheet adjacent the hole 15 to bend outwardly slightly sufiicient for the sheet to clear the clamping portion 13, and be slipped off over the clamping member 12 without entirely removing the same from the clamping seat. Likewlse, when it is desired to put on a fresh record sheet, the same may be slipped over the clamping member 12 and its clamping portion 13, these parts extending through the hole 15, until the edges of the hole 15 have passed the clamping portion 13 when the edges of the hole which have been bent backwardly due to engagement with the clamping periphery 13, will straighten or flatten out and extend underneath the clamping portion 13, and between it-and the seat 9, and then the clamping cap 12 may be screwed up in order that the clamping portion 13 will engage the edges of the sheet adjacent the hole 15 and firmly clamp the same to the seat 9.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efiicient arrangement wherebg the record sheet may be clamped to its seat y means of a rotatable member the rotation of which forces the member toward and away from the sheet to on and ofi positions to clamp and unelamp the sheet to the seat, the sheet having a hole therein adapted to be slipped over the clamping means whereby the sheet may be positionedon its seat, said hole being so shaped that it may be slipped over the clamping means, but when brought against its seat with the clamping means in off position the edge of the sheet at the hole may be caused to lie under the clamping means and between the clamping means and the sheet, so that when said clamping means is moved to the clamping position the sheet at the edge of the hole will be clamped to the seat. By ofi position of the clamping means, I mean that position thereof where the clamping means is not entirely removed from the post and seat but is sutficiently moved to permit the record sheet to be removed. By slitting the record sheet or providing cuts therein as indicated at 19, the sheet may be satisfactorily removed over the clamping means even though the clamping means is of larger diameter than the hole in the sheet, because the laterally extending cuts 19 in the sheet permit the edges of the sheet around the hole 15 to be bent out so as to slip over the'larger clamping part 13. While I prefer to provide the radially disposed cuts 19 for this purpose, it is obvious that other forms of slits and other shaped holes may be provided to accomplish substantially the same result.

Thus while I have described my improvements in detail and with respect to a preferred form thereof, I do not desire to be limited to such details or forms, since many changes and modifications may be made and the invention embodied in wldely difi'erent forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof in its broader aspects, hence I desire to cover all modifications and forms coming within the language or scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1 1. The method of mounting a perforated flexible sheet on a seat-forming member having an extension projecting therefrom, said extension having a member movable thereon toward and from said seat-forming memher and comprising a sheet-engaging face spaced from the latter, the perforation of said sheet being of less diameter than that of said movable member in the region thereon immediately adjacent its sheet-engaging face, said sheet having a plurality of flapforming slots opening into said perforation and of a length sufficient to extend beyond the periphery of said movable member which method comprises passing said sheet sidewise towards said seat-forming member to cause said extension to enter the sheet perforation, continuing sidewise movement of said sheet until engagement thereof with said seat-forming member is eflfected, the flaps being displaced from the plane of the sheet by engagement with said movable member, said flaps being returned to substantially the plane of said sheet, and then moving said movable member towards said seatforming member to grip the sheet.

2. The method of removing a perforated flexible sheet from a seat-forming member having an extension projecting therefrom, said extension having a member movable thereon toward and from said seat-forming member and comprising a face engaging one side of the sheet, the perforation of said sheet being of less diameter than that of said movable member in the region thereof, immediately adjacent its sheet-engaging face, said sheet having a plurality of flapforming slots opening into said perforation and of a length sufiieient to extend beyond the periphery of said movable member, which method comprises moving said movable member from said seat-forming member, and passing said sheet sidewise first from said seat-forming member and then from said movable member and said extension, the flaps being displaced from the plane of the sheet by engagement with said movable member, said flaps being returned substantially to the plane of the sheet after passage thereof beyond said movable member.

3. The combination with a flexible sheet provided with a perforation and having slots opening into said perforation to form circumferentially arranged flaps, of sheetretaining mechanism comprising a seatforming member engaging one side of said flaps, an extension projecting from said seatforming member through said perforation, and a cap of such size as to laterally displace said'flaps When said sheet is passed axially thereover, said cap being threaded to said extension and having a face engaging the other side of said flaps.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HENRY B. NIGKERSON. 

